PALM DESERT, Calif. - Esther Lee had a string of three straight birdies on her way to a 71 to help the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's golf team to a solid start after the first round of the NCAA Championships, standing in fifth place (+9) after the first of four rounds on Tuesday at the Desert Willow Golf Resort. 

Lee is tied for fifth on the individual leaderboard at -1, two shots off the lead, after a round which saw her card birdies on No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9 in succession. Birdies were hard to come by for the Athenas in the early going, with Alisa Ching getting the first on the sixth hole, but CMS was able to hang tough and is only six shots back heading into the second day. 

Carnegie Mellon finished at +3 for its opening round, holding a one shot lead over Washington & Lee at +4. Emory stands in third at +5, with NYU one shot ahead of CMS at +8. 

Ella Chiu and Christine Yu both finished their rounds at +3 and in a tie for 34th on the individual leaderboard, while Alisa Ching was +4 and in the top 50 as well (45th). 

Chiu finished strong with a birdie on No. 12 and then six straight pars, while Yu was -1 on her last five holes, including a birdie on No. 16, to take some momentum going into tomorrow. Ching had a 30-foot putt on No. 18 to cap off her final round. 

The second round will get underway at 7 a.m. with the Athenas teeing off on the Firecliff Course, after playing their opening round on Mountain View on Tuesday.